Two support staff agreements ratified
VICTORIA - The board of the Post-Secondary Employers' Association (PSEA) has ratified two support staff agreements reached under the 2012 Cooperative Gains Mandate, Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology Minister John Yap announced today.
Each four-year agreement includes zero per cent wage increases for the first two years, consistent with the 2010 Net Zero Mandate, and four staged increases of one per cent over the third and fourth years, funded from savings found within existing budgets as required under the 2012 Cooperative Gains Mandate.
More than half of the people working in B.C.'s public sector now have tentative or ratified agreements settled under the 2012 Cooperative Gains Mandate. This represents about one-third of agreements.
Following local ratification by union members and college boards, the PSEA board provided the final sign-off on the agreements between College of New Caledonia and CUPE Local 4951, and Douglas College and its BCGEU Local 703. These agreements cover about 1,200 staff working in a variety of positions ranging from information technology, administration and lab support workers, to library technicians, facilities and other services that support students and the institutions.
The PSEA reached a template compensation agreement in December for support staff on behalf of 12 participating colleges and institutes, and their respective unions - including the BCGEU, CUPE and COPE - which organized as an association for the purposes of these negotiations. These two support staff agreements adopt that template.
The B.C. government has been clear that there is no new money to fund wage increases and there is no desire to download these costs onto families or future generations. The 2012 Cooperative Gains Mandate provides public-sector employers with the ability to negotiate modest wage increases funded from savings within existing budgets, not adding costs to taxpayers and ratepayers, and not sacrificing services.
Settlements under the 2012 mandate are expected to be unique between sectors and between employers in some sectors.
Learn More: Updated bargaining information is available at: http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/psec/
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